Louise Clare Craig Nickelson July 23, 1952 - July 27, 2022

Louise Clare Nickelson (née Craig) died suddenly, early in the morning of July 27, 2022, of a massive heart attack due to undiagnosed severe heart disease. Louise “Lucy” was born in Nyack, New York on July 23, 1952, the fourth child of Marshall and Ruth Craig. In 1953, the family moved to Provo. Louise’s first years in school were at Provo’s Joaquin Elementary School. In 1959, the family moved to Springville where Louise went to three different elementary schools and finished at the new Sage Creek school. When Louise was in fourth grade, the school librarian didn’t know what to do with her: she’d read every book in the new school’s very small library. She attended Springville Junior High and High Schools, graduating in 1970. In high school, Louise was involved in the Thespian Club, orchestra, speech and debate, and sports—she particularly liked softball, which she played for many years after graduating. In those later years, being heavily pregnant did not dissuade Louise from sliding into base a few times.

She attended BYU but left soon after she married Monte Jay Huntsman in 1974. Daughter Maiken Clare was born the following year in Provo. Monte joined the Army, and his military service took them to California, Massachusetts, and Texas. Kari Ruth was born at Fort Ord, CA in 1976 and Britta Lisette was born in Killeen, TX in 1978. Louise and Monte divorced not long after and Louise returned to Springville and resumed schooling at BYU.

The year Louise returned to BYU, her sister Martha and some others formed a women’s choir to perform Benjamin Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols.” No one that first year could have guessed that the choir would be a beloved community group performing for 40 years. Louise was a member of the choir for all but five years. She loved the music, the message, the camaraderie, and having three of her daughters join the choir.

While back at BYU, Louise met and became friends with Robert Nickelson. They married in 1982 in the Salt Lake Temple. Bob’s first teaching job after graduation was in northern Nevada, at the Owyhee Combined School on the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe’s Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Keeley Jeanne was born in 1984 in nearby Mountain Home, Idaho. Louise loved the beauty of that rugged, wide-open country and the many people they met and got to know. Her handmade ornaments of the Indian Days of Christmas will continue to grace the Nickelson Christmas tree.

Louise longed to return to Utah to be near her family. Bob was able to secure a new teaching position that moved the family to Payson, Utah. Here, in 1990, their fifth daughter, Alexandra Eva, was born. Louise worked hard at many things, particularly in these years. In addition to canning more that seemed humanly possible, she worked for the Springville Museum of Art, for the Utah Statewide Art Partnership, and for several BYU School of Management professors grading and critiquing student papers to improve their writing.

For the last many years, the Nickelsons have lived in a house on the east side of Payson with a quarter acre lot which Bob knew upon seeing would delight Louise. Within days of securing the house, she and Bob had laid out their garden and hauled in soil for raised beds. Louise has always been an avid gardener and loved being able to grow her own produce. It was common for her extended family to gather after the Anaheim peppers were picked to enjoy her chile rellenos. For the past many years, she was employed at Olson’s Garden Shoppe in Payson, where her joy in growing things gave her great pleasure in the work.

Throughout her life, Louise was creative and artistic in many different ways, including sewing, cooking, knitting, basket-making, drawing, and pottery (a particular passion which blessed many of her family and friends with wonderful gifts in a wide range of styles). She designed and decorated with applique or embroidery adorable children’s clothes. Her younger brother, John, remembers an early example of her creativity: one winter, in the latter nineteen-sixties, she sculpted out of snow a four-foot-high bear sitting cross-legged with a honey pot in its lap (a nod to Winnie the Pooh).

Louise’s health was often imperfect. She was afflicted with various chronic conditions from the time she was a young adult, including fibromyalgia, but she continued to be active until just shortly before she passed away. Louise loved camping and camp cooking. As a teen, she thought it unfair that the boys’ church activity group did far more camping than the girls’ group did. And with her cooking, camp food was always a tasty treat.

She was active in her local wards and branches wherever she lived. She served in a variety of callings, including teaching Primary, Relief Society, and Sunday School. She held music callings which she felt sometimes stretched her, though she was musically talented. She served in at least one Primary Presidency and was a ward Girls’ Camp leader.  Always, her devotion to God, her testimony of Christ’s mission, and her appreciation of the beauty of the natural world were at her center.

Louise is survived by her large and loving family, including her husband Robert Nickelson and her five daughters. They are Maiken Huntsman of Payson, UT; Kari Van Wagner of Springville, UT; Britta Schroeder (Tom) of Harrisburg, PA; Keeley Nickelson (Daryl Bagesse) of Denver, CO; and Alex Nickelson (Orion Bradburn) of Kanab, UT. Louise and Bob have five grandchildren–Alyssa, Lucia, Will, Isabel, and Sophie—who will miss their Nonna. She had 50 nieces and nephews, and the number of her great-nieces and great-nephews continues to grow.

Louise is also survived by her five siblings and spouses: Martha Sargent (David) of Springville, UT; Alan Craig (Janice) of Riverton, UT; Christine Seppi (Duane) of Pittsburgh, PA; Alison Craig of Canton, MI; and John Craig (Elaine) of Orem, UT.

Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, August 2 at 11a.m. at the church at 225 South 400 East in Payson, Utah. There will be no viewing, but friends may visit with the family from 9:30-10:30 a.m. before the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in Louise’s name to Utahns Against Hunger. Also, please make a meal with and for your loved ones. Louise loved to cook for her family and loved ones, and the food was always wonderful because she made it with love. She will be missed by all who knew and loved her.